A MAIN road in Barrow is set to be closed for three weeks while repairs are carried out to a railway bridge.

Network Rail has requested the closure of Greengate Street from Monday March 2 until Friday March 27.

Network Rail said the road closure is necessary to allow brickwork repairs to be carried out on the bridge.

The road will be closed between 7.30am and 2pm each day.

The work is understood to be connected to the demolition of a terraced house next to the bridge.

In 2018 the end-of-terrace property 188 Marsh Street, which adjoined the bridge, was demolished by contractors on behalf of the building's owner Network Rail.

The now demolished house had been derelict and empty for some time with no occupants since at least 2005.

Residents had voiced concerns during demolition over the safety of the building after steel props were put up to shore up the property.

However, Barrow Borough Council's building control manager Kevan Morrison explained the steelwork was temporary propping while a new buttress wall is constructed.

"The house was in a state and it wasn't viable to do anything with it," he said.

"The steel girders are temporary solution until the buttressing and new wall is built."

Network Rail's planning application to demolish the house, which was granted approval in December 2016, reveals the final appearance of the site will be much different to its current state.

A new wall, matching the existing terraced block, will be constructed and the temporary brick wall will be removed and rendered.

Network Rail carried out regular inspections of the bridge while the demolition took place.

Although the road closure is for three weeks the road will reopen earlier if the work is completed ahead of schedule.